On December 7, 1941 the ship the USS Arizona was destroyed at Pearl Harbor. A memorial has been built over it in the harbor. In October 2015, Dylan Skye followed in his mother and father’s childhood footsteps and visited the state of Hawaii. He went along in spirit with his mom, dad, brother, grandmother, grandfather and aunt. As usual, we brought along our “flat Dylan” so we could have a physical record of him during our adventures.

We know that since Dylan’s passing in 2012 that he is with us but we are all camera enthusiasts and like to have it all on record. Leaving the volcano of the Big Island, we flew to Oahu where we visited Pearl Harbor. After a short boat ride to the memorial we looked down at the remains below. We could see a small dot appear on the surface of the water and then it would become multicolored and spread, then another one would appear. They were beautiful as they changed shape and colors. Unfortunately, it was oil still leaking from the submerged wreckage below. Over 70 years later it continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day. These drops were referred to as “black tears” or the “tears of the Arizona”.

Beautifully expressed in the Prologue to the book “Renewal at The Place of Black Tears” by Jerry Kaufman. “THE PLACE OF BLACK TEARS is a permanent shrine that is always changing. Every few moments, small bursts of oil that have been locked in darkness for more than seven decades suddenly escape from the fuel tanks of the sunken hull of the USS Arizona. Like spirits silently ascending from the past, these “black tears” quietly surface to spread across the water. There swirled by the breeze and tide, they move in a rhythmic dance choreographed by the natural conditions of the day.

Pearl Harbor survivors were the first to use the expression “black tears”, as well as “tears of the Arizona”. These oil droplets can be particularly evocative of what has happened since the 1941 attack. As Zenji Abe, a former Japanese dive-bomber pilot at Pearl Harbor observed: “When I visited the Memorial…, I saw oil droplets bubble to the surface of Pearl Harbor above the Arizona, which remain underwater. They moved my heart, as they are like the grief or grudge of the 1,177 people killed on the ship.”

We were told the “tears” will continue to rise until the last survivor of the Arizona dies.

We also found it very interesting to discover that the remains of an infant girl is still trapped inside the overturned hull with 54 men. Nancy Lynn Wagner was one of twin girls born to the Wagner family in 1937. She died two days after birth and was cremated. Chief Yeoman Wagner kept the urn containing her ashes in a locker in the Chief’s quarters of the USS Utah where she still remains. He was waiting for a chaplain to be assigned to his ship so on a mission at sea he could scatter baby Nancy’s ashes. Chief Wagman did survive the attack.

It is amazing how something of such beauty can come from such a tragic and toxic environment.

My Loved One Shines On! A Gift from Beyond

Reacquainting you with your hope, joy and laughter.  Thank you Dylan.